Route 169 project halted by PCBs

Tests also found high lead levels in 2011

Traffic flows around the barriers and plastic-covered mounds of soil that mark the Route 169 realignment project. Work there was delayed recently because of soil contamination. Gus Steeves. (click for larger version)

September 17, 2012

SOUTHBRIDGE — Just as it was getting going, the North Woodstock Road project came to a halt a while ago.

For some time, nobody knew why — then Town Manager Chris Clark announced at last week's Council meeting the contractors had found soil contamination.

Specifically, they found highly toxic PCBs along the long-defunct railroad, which is being removed as the road gets straightened out to meet Route 131. But it's actually not the first time toxins have been found in that soil.

For more on this story, please see tomorrow's Southbridge Evening News.